A defiant Laurie Daley has stated that he believes he is still the right man to guide New South Wales, despite suffering a series defeat upon his return to the helm.
The Blues legend was brought back for a second stint following Michael Maguire's departure after one triumphant series in charge last year.
NSWRL decided they wanted to venture back to the future for his replacement and appeared set to reap the rewards for this choice.
MORE: What is Laurie Daley’s Origin coaching record with the NSW Blues?
Laurie Daley defiant despite the NSW Blues' horror loss in decider
NSW rolled to a comprehensive victory in the opening match of the series as they toppled Queensland for the second straight game in Brisbane.
However, this joy in their rival’s territory proved to be short-lived as the Maroons suddenly flipped the script like only they know how to do.
Firstly, Billy Slater made one of the biggest and boldest coaching decisions in Origin history as he axed his captain, Daly Cherry-Evans, after Game I.
His newly-appointed captain Cameron Munster guided his side to an upset win in Perth to keep the series alive and force a decider.
The Queenslanders then repeated the dose in Sydney to leave Daley feeling sick but, perhaps surprisingly, not perturbed.
"I think because of what we’ve been building," Daley responded when he was asked whether he was the right man for the job after the Blues’ collapse from a winning position in the series.
"While I was disappointed with the result, I think the players have had a really good campaign.
"We just sort of didn’t nail the big moments, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re better at that."
Daley had won just one of five series during his first stint in charge of NSW, although admittedly this did come amidst the famous QLD dynasty.
It was meant to be different this time around though as the Blues boasted a star-studded outfit on paper.
Yet this potent attacking arsenal failed to fire when it mattered most, while slow starts in consecutive matches led to dire trouble for NSW.
"I don’t see any reason why this group can’t (win)," Daley maintained.
"It’s hard to win Origin series back-to-back. We know that. I think we’ve only won five back-to-back series in 45 years, so it’s difficult."
Despite leaking 46 points combined in the last two first halves of matches, the coach remained upbeat that he would be able to solve the obvious deficiencies next year and deliver the state the shield in the process.
"We played some good footy, but they just won some moments," Daley said.
"It’s something we need to find out," the coach replied when asked for the reason why his side kept getting ambushed in the first stanzas.
"We’ll look into that and what we think we need to be better at.
"Obviously, you don’t get another opportunity this year. We’ll see what we need to get better at and do it next year."